Theater camp fills void for would-be actors

Saturday

Jul 27, 2013 at 5:04 PM

By Francesca Kefalas, NORWICH BULLETIN

WINDHAM, Conn. — Jim Baran and Steve Kaminski performed their way through their youth in Windham.

Alumni of what Baran calls "the golden age of performing arts in Windham" during the '70s and '80s, when the town was a venue for professional artists breaking through and a model for performing arts education in public schools, realized today's children do not have the same opportunities they had.

Kaminski, a Hollywood music producer and composer, created SPARK — short for Saving Performing Arts Reaching Kids — with the University of California at Los Angeles' theater and education departments and tapped Baran to help him bring it back home to Windham.

"When we grew up, we had so many opportunities the kids today don't have," Baran said. "The educators here set the bar high and we soared because of it. We were middle school kids competing against high school kids and placing and doing well. It gave us confidence. We became empowered when we were doing it."

SPARK has run a two-week summer camp for four years through the Windham Recreation Department. The camp, held at Windham Middle School, gives children ages 11-18 two weeks of camp from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to hone their acting, dancing and singing skills.

Simultaneously, there is a half-day camp for children ages 6-10. At the end of the two weeks, all the participants put on a show, which is free and open to the public.

There is also a one-week audio-visual camp for children ages 11-18. Those participants will learn the technical aspects of a production and also work on the show.

Baran, who has made a living performing and writing musical theater for more than 35 years, said the camp is not about creating future superstars. It's about teaching kids to push themselves and take risks.

"Risk is what we're about," Baran said. ''It's not about singing. It's not about dancing. It's not about acting. It's about pushing outside what's comfortable. When you see the kid who is shy stand up in front of the rest of camp and sing, dance and perform a monologue, it brings tears to your eyes."

Amanda Fox, 12, loves to perform and comes from Willington to attend the camp. Amanda, attending for the first time, said she will come again because the camp has become a special place even after just a few days.

"We're like a family already," she said.

Kaminski, who has scored more than 300 hours of music for television and film, and is a visiting professor at UCLA, kicked off the camp on day one and will return to work directly with the children for week two of the camp.

The camp also brings in other professionals, such as musician David Foster and Broadway star Kay Cole.

Emily Brolin, 15, of Windham, enjoys being on stage. Baran said pushing her to take risks means teaching her to go deeper and tap into real emotions. Emily loves the challenge.

"I want to be on stage and perform, and I'm learning how to be better at it here," she said. ''I really like how they teach us all what we need to be better.''